I love the South, the I love the ocean, the salt air and the heat...but when I do like how far away things are. Really, to get anywhere down here for example, a Walmart, Target, or Mall, it takes 30-45 minutes and basically an hour to go back and forth to get anything. That is frustrating. I also struggle with not having a car most of the time, because we only have one car. Everything is highway down here and I really don't have a lot of experience driving on the highway because back home in Ohio, everything I drove on was back roads. Not only that, but one of the biggest issues I'm struggling with down here is milk. Yep, you read that right and no I am not joking. I tried several types of milk down here and of course being me, I only liked one brand and they only sell that brand at the local Food Lion. Back home, the gas station wasn't even a minute away from my house and down here, its 10-15 minutes to get milk. Yes, something that small but so significant to me bothers the living crap out of me. It's like things that really shouldn't matter, but they do.
I know I'm still adjusting and learning new things and how to maneuver myself around down here, but sometimes its too much for me. Some days, I am so sad that all I want to do is curl up a ball and sleep with Noir at my side. And then there are other days, most days, where I am so happy that I run to do the door when Eric comes home to give him a welcome home kiss, those are the days that make the sad days seem invisible and not important.
September flew by pretty quick, I looked at the calender and Labor Day was gone, I went home for 7 days, came back, Eric turned 25 and the next thing I knew it was October! But one of my favorite things we did in September was go to the Onslow County Fair. It was so much fun! We went on Tuesday of the week long fair and of course, on Military Appreciation night. We went on several rides and I got to try fried oreos for the first time ever too! (They actually weren't that great to be honest, it was very odd tasting.)
Fried Oreos! A check off my bucket list!
The first weekend in October we went to a local farm in Jacksonville called Mike's Farm and went Pumpkin picking. It was lots of fun and Eric picked out like 30 lb pumpkin. However before we were about to leave the pumpkin patch, our tractor driver forgot the tractor was in reverse and turned it on while people were getting on the tractor, instead of going forward it went backward and knocked a little boy on his back and under the tractor (he was around 2-3 years old by the way) and his mother who is about to give birth any day now, pulls him back and falls onto her back in the process and everyone went nuts. People were screaming at the kid to stop, Eric threw his pumpkin and jumped off the tractor to help. Luckily though, the guy stopped the tractor just in time before it hit her bump. It was very scary and I am just so glad that the woman and her son (and future child too!) are safe and unharmed. After that we went to go eat at the farm's resturant to relax and cool off, we were very jumpy after that needless to say, haha! The farm's restaurant which was an endless buffet, the waitress brings you buckets full of food and dessert which included: corn, ham and biscuits, homemade mac n cheese, green beans, chicken and homemade desserts. It was amazing and I'm sure we'll go back to Mike's Farm for the Christmas Light show they have there too or probably for the food ;)
Our pumpkins!
Eric and his 30 lb pumpkin!
After our pumpkin farm trip, that was the last weekend for awhile that Eric and I would really have to spend together. Since October 7th he's been in a 3 week long course that literally has him working and studying for 10 hours of the day. The first week he was gone from 6AM to 9PM at night, that lasted for a week and that was horrible. Since August Eric has been working half days or he's been on the range coaching, so I got to see a lot more of him than usual which was nice. On Thursday he left for a week to go train, basically something I can't talk about or discuss, fact of the matter is...he's gone for 7 days. He doesn't have his phone and I probably won't hear from him till Thursday or Friday. Which sucks, we haven't been able to talk at all since he's been in Japan!!! I realized that before he left Thursday and got very sad at the thought. Its frustrating because I don't agree with this training and to make it worse, he's gone for a week and we can't communicate at all. I've been feeling kind of lonely, but I have Noir and Alex hanging around which has been nice....but I still miss my husband.
Its funny because the past few days, I had several thoughts going through my head, questions and comments that I've been saying to myself like: Don't you remember when he was in Japan? And you went MONTHS, 200+ days without seeing him? Or when he was on ship for 3-4 months and you didn't hear anything from him? So why are you getting upset over 7 days Katy? Whats wrong with you? And the most hurtful question keeps popping into my head every so often since he's left:
Does feeling sad and lonely mean I'm weak because I can't see or talk to him for 7 days? I don't know, but to me it seems that way because I remember how days would go on forever without me seeing him and I wouldn't shed a tear or feel anything. But now, I'm not like that and I keep wondering why. I don't have an answer.
Besides hanging around the apartment, doing online class work, cooking and cleaning I've been really trying to make some new friends down here. And I'll be blunt, I should not even bothered with certain people. I really don't have a lot of "close" friends, I have friends but not like lots best friends ya know? I have friends who I keep in touch with and keep up with their everyday lives, but I only have a few close friends. When I first moved down here, I promised myself that I would once again, try to put myself out there, be more friendly and make an effort with people. And its worked with some people, but not a lot. I'm really good friends with the people who live in our apartment complex and I really adore my neighbor Julia. However other marine wives I tried to connect with didn't work and formed cliques with each other, basically making me feel left out and stupid that I even bothered with them. So lesson learned, once again.
I also started to go to events with the MARSOC (Eric's battalion) Marine wive group, called the Spartan wives which is really awesome and fun. I was nervous going to an event by myself, but I made myself do it and I am so glad I did because they made me feel so welcome and I had so much fun. I'm also volunteering to help out with the FRO's (Family Readiness Officer) Thanksgiving feast for the marines stationed in the barracks next month which I'm excited about. I'm going to keep volunteering with the FRO I think and also continue to keep going to the Spartan Wife's events.
I also tried to look for a job, but sadly no one is hiring down here at the moment. And its also hard to get a job when we have one car too, so I'm trying to find a job close to base and our apartment but its been a no go so far.
I've also been busy making crafts and DIY (do it yourself) projects as well, I'm really hoping to open a shop soon and sell things online, but first I need to see a good response from things I'm making to be able to sell them. We shall see!
Right now I'm looking forward to seeing Eric when he gets home because he should get a few extra days off and my birthday is in 9 days. I don't know how I feel about turning 22 because I've really enjoyed being 21 and I'm sad to see it go. But, I'm excited to see what 22 has in store for me! :)
Till next time~
My handsome boys!
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